At Blind Lady and Tiger!Tiger! one of our main quests has always been to figure out how we fit into our community and in turn, how we then can give back.
This year instead of flying by the seat of our pants — our specialty and general modus operandi— we researched over 45 organizations that were suggested by our staff members and chose 12 of them for 2017, one for each month.

February's Agent of Change: ARTS-A Reason to Survive

This is a favorite because they've been around for awhile but were really coming into their own and growing around when BLAH started and have really exploded into a huge and true force of change. Their primary goal is to help under-served youth— help them get through school, help them find themselves and their dreams, help them get into college or find a job— all via creative endeavors. They want these kids to find meaning, motivation and drive (aka a reason to survive). It's the whole teaching you to fish thing as opposed to just feeding you fish.

They accomplish this goal in a myriad of ways: from informal art experiences to professional skill building, through mentorships, apprenticeships, and a giant array of classes in music, studio art, building, design, writing, photography and more. They have a pretty sizable complex in National City that is truly super cool but they also reach out to schools, and neighborhood groups and working-artists studios for the kids who cannot come to the Center.

They believe Art is the most powerful force of change.

This organization was started by this awesome guy named Matt D'Arrigo in 2001 after he lost his Mom to cancer. Art and music had really gotten him through it and he thought that if it worked for him, it could work for others. It was really small to start with— like really. And now? I don't know the numbers of the kids they reach but it's crazy and in the thousands. This documentary, about one of the ARTS students, Innocente, won the Academy Award for Short Documentary— and if you haven't seen it you should, it's online and it will make you sob and but also believe: